Nominally the Submarine Industrial Base Council would not post news about foreign submarine programs but we thought this might be of interest to our members supporting OHIO Replacement and the Common Missile Compartment (CMC).  The CMC is a joint investment by both the United States and United Kingdom in our next generation ballistic missile submarines as both nations will continue to use the Trident D-5 submarine launched ballistic missile.  The first CMCs will actually be built in the United Kingdom for the VANGUARD Class ballistic missile submarine replacement program known as SUCCESSOR.  Read more below.

From Defense News: Contract Signals Start of Manufacturing Phase for British Nuclear Sub

LONDON — Construction work is set to get underway soon on Britain’s £31 billion (US $40 billion) program to build a fleet of new nuclear missile submarines for the Royal Navy, the UK government has announced.
 Defence Secretary Michael Fallon is due to visit the BAE Systems shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness, northern England, on Oct. 5 to signal the start of the construction phase of the program with the largely symbolic exercise of cutting the first steel on the first of four nuclear submarines set to be built over the next two decades to replace the existing Vanguard-class boats.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced a nearly £1.3 billion investment over the weekend covering initial manufacture, long-lead item procurement, improving the infrastructure at the BAE yard and work on further design maturity.

The go-ahead follows July’s parliamentary approval for the four-boat program designed to give the Royal Navy a continuous, at-sea deterrence capability.

Read the full story here.